Blanche Heriot Unit at St Peter’s Hospital, Chertsey has been serving the people of North Surrey for 25 years but is now threatened with closure. The Unit provides services in sexual health, HIV and other areas of genito-urinary medicine with some 15,000 attendances in 2016. These include patients with other health issues such as vulva/genital dermatology, cancer and pre-cancer and chronic pelvic pain. In addition to the clinics held at the Blanche Heriot Unit itself, clinics are held every week in 5 local prisons and at Royal Holloway, University of London. The Blanche Heriot Unit also provides inpatient HIV services at St Peter’s and works closely with the neonatal unit.The Blanche Heriot Unit is currently run by Ashford & St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust but is now caught up in a contract jointly commissioned by Surrey County Council and NHS England for sexual health and HIV services in Surrey. There was only one bidder for this contract - Central & North West London NHS Trust (CNWL). CNWL have committed to run the Surrey contract at a saving of £2million per annum over 3 years. CNWL have indicated that they will not be retaining services at the Blanche Heriot Unit but have given no indication as to how these services will be provided elsewhere to the same high standard and level of accessibility. The contract was due to start on 1 April 2017 but CNWL have already run into problems in the “mobilisation” stage causing Surrey County Council to extend the existing services at the Blanche Heriot Unit by six months.However this is only a temporary reprieve. The Unit, and the services it provides, remain under threat. The decision makers in this process have not engaged with, or consulted, the patients who depend on the Blanche Heriot Unit.This is your opportunity to ensure that the patient voice is heard. Sign & share the petition. Write to your MP. Make the case for the Blanche Heriot Unit and its dedicated, expert staff to continue to serve the people of North Surrey.If you would like to get more involved with the campaign contact them on bhupatients@gmail.comThank you for your support.Click here to sign their petition

​Just a brief update on activities and an appeal to all candidates in the forthcoming County Council elections.

We will be holding another street stall on Saturday 22 April in Staines from 11am till 1pm. We will be campaigning against fire service cuts and in defence of the NHS.

We have affiliated to Health Campaigns Together (HCT) and will be looking at coordinating local activities with their national campaigns. Saturday July 1st is a date to put in your diaries as a national day of action in support of Our NHS. You can find out more about HCT here: http://www.healthcampaignstogether.com - including how you can get your union branch or tenants association to affiliate.

Given the recent announcement regarding Shepperton Health Centre, we may decide to arrange a meeting or protest around this issue too. See more here: http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/shepperton-health-centre-at-risk-12801474

We have made contact with the Keep Our St Helier Hospital campaign and may well arrange some joint activities with them: https://koshh.org

Last but not least, Dr Bob Gill (high profile doctor campaigning against cuts and privatisation in the NHS) will be coming to our AGM in Woking on the evening of 30th May to talk about his film "Sell Off", which we will be showing at the event. We would really like a large turnout for this so please put 30th May in your diaries, tell your friends and colleagues - particularly those who work in, or who care passionately about, the NHS.

I have a copy of the DVD and I am happy to come and show it at trade union branches, clubs, tenants associations etc. It is only an hour long and is a real eye opener. Just let me know.

County Council election Candidates - please have a look at our election charter - http://www.sosis.org.uk/our-charter.html. If you agree with the 10 points listed and promise not to support any cuts to jobs, services, pay or terms and conditions of staff if elected, please let me know and I will add your name as a signatory. Please include your full name, the party for whom you are standing and the electoral district you are standing in.

SOSiS are planning to be active throughout the election period (we have a number of activists who are candidates for a range of parties - Labour, Greens and TUSC, the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition) but we campaign together against the cuts.